THE 12.77-kilometer Cagayan de Oro (CDO) Coastal Road — which is expected to divert heavy-loaded trucks from neighboring provinces going to the port and thus decongest traffic in the city proper — is scheduled for inauguration today, Nov. 10, according to Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH)-Northern Mindanao Regional Director Virgilio C. Eduarte. The road spans from Barangay Gusa in the eastern side to Barangay Igpit, Opol in Misamis Oriental. The Gusa-Agora section of the coastal road will be opened this month, while the construction of the Agora-PPA-Corrales section is also in progress. The project has faced delays due mainly to road right-of-way issues (RROW). Mr. Eduarte said Task Force Hapsay Dalan, the Cagayan de Oro City government and other line agencies assisted in addressing the obstruction problems, while four RROW issues are still awaiting the filing of expropriation cases. — Mindanao Bureau
IN THE country since 1981 combating hunger and malnutrition among children as well as delivering other programs geared towards helping kids lead better lives, Save the Children Philippines is raising its game in making known what it does with the recent launch of the #LahatSanta Christmas campaign.
Save the Children, through #LahatSanta, is encouraging individuals, schools and companies to pick up the cause of being heroes for kids by wearing Santa hats this Christmas, raising funds in their own creative ways, and donating the money to the organization.
Part of the Save the Children worldwide movement which has presence in 120 countries, the local chapter of the organization said it could not emphasize enough the need to pick up the pace in the battle against hunger and malnutrition in the country, thus, necessitating campaigns like #LahatSanta.
“In the Philippines, one in three children suffers from stunted growth due to hunger and malnutrition, and this means that they won’t be able to reach their full potential. Poor families struggle to feed their children and it’s estimated that 1.5 million Filipino children go to sleep hungry every night, not having eaten a thing all day,” said Dr. Amado Parawan, Save the Children’s Health and Nutrition Advisor, during the #LahatSanta campaign launch last week at the Legend Villas in Mandaluyong City.
Mr. Parawan said that while they have made significant strides in dealing with the problem through the years, with partnerships with the departments of Health, Social Welfare and Development, and Education, among others, much can still be done, especially with the help of the private sector.
It is something that Riel Andaluz, Save the Children’s head of strategic partnerships, backs, considering how having more people getting involved in varying capacities would go a long way in expanding the organization’s programs and reaching more children.
“#LahatSanta campaign is part of our thrust to create further awareness on hunger and malnutrition. So we look at working with private individuals and groups as a way of enhancing and complementing it. We need them to get involved. The problem is far from over. We need to spread the word about it and encourage action to address it,” Ms. Andaluz said.
HOW TO BE A SANTA
To get involved in #LahatSanta campaign, one needs to first sign up on www.lahatsanta.ph to receive a free fundraising pack which includes a coin bank, a Christmas poster, and a Santa hat.
Then participants have to plan their fundraising activities which can include things like a garage sale, caroling, selling artwork, and doing Christmas dares.
The funds raised can then be sent to Save the Children Philippines.
Participants are also encouraged to wear their Santa hats on Dec. 15 and make a shout-out post or selfie using the hashtag #LahatSanta to show how they are raising funds for children.
One of the groups that is already on board is Aldenver Marketing, Inc. which is organizing a Christmas Charity Run on Dec. 17 at SM By The Bay, proceeds of which will go to Save the Children.
Categories for the run are 500 meter dash for kids for a P500 registration fee, and a three-kilometer run for P600. Inclusive in the registration fees are a Santa hat, singlet, loot bag, and certificate.
Artists and “influencers” such as Ria Atayde, Bianca Guidotti, Jeushl Wensh Tiu, and Trish Ramos have also expressed interest in the campaign, while groups like the BPI Foundation, Family Mart, Strong Media Advertising Solutions, Inc., Light Network, Nyxsys, OLX, and ANC are now committed to it.
“With every Lahat Santa hat comes great responsibility. Your commitment to the Lahat Santa campaign could mean life-saving support for a child. Your donation can provide treatment to babies suffering from malnutrition and help expand our programs that could impact their lives in the long run,” Ms. Andaluz said as she reiterated how valuable and meaningful the #LahatSanta campaign can be.
Text and photos by Cathy Rose A. Garcia, Associate Editor
SEOUL — While most tourists flock to shooting locations of Korean dramas or shop for Korean cosmetics, often overlooked on their itinerary are the many museums in South Korea.
South Korea’s place in the art world has been cemented with the Gwangju and Busan biennales. In past years, Seoul has hosted retrospectives on Van Gogh, Renoir, Rodin, Warhol, and Picasso, while international artists regularly hold solo shows there.
Samsung’s Leeum Museum of Art boasts of Maman by Louise Bourgeois, while the Ho-am Museum houses a cast of Rodin’s The Gates of Hell and The Burghers of Calais.
Several government-run museums, some of which offer free admission, provide a deeper understanding of Korean culture and history.
The National Museum of Korea is the largest in the country, and showcases Korean cultural assets. It has over 300,000 pieces in its collection, but only around 15,000 are displayed at a time.
Some of the must-see pieces are the 10-storey Gyeongcheonsa Pagoda (National Treasure No. 86) and a 5th century gold crown (National Treasure No. 191).
Korean contemporary art is displayed at the National Museum of Contemporary Art’s main branch in Gwacheon and its two Seoul branches — one inside Deoksu Palace and another next to Gyeongbok Palace.
For a quick introduction to modern Korean history, the place to go is the National Museum of Korean Contemporary History, located along Gwanghwamun.
Through interactive displays (in English and Korean), visitors learn about the birth of the Republic of Korea — its struggles during the Japanese occupation, liberation in 1945, the Korean War, the country’s rapid economic development, and the Democratization movement.
A rooftop garden on the museum’s 8th floor offers expansive views of Seoul’s main road Gwanghwamun and its park, as well as Gyeongbok Palace and the mountains behind it.
Visitors are also given a chance to experience the Korean War using virtual reality goggles, as well as sit behind the President’s desk at a mock-up of the Cheong Wa Dae office.
The real Cheong Wa Dae — the presidential residence also known as Blue House because of its blue roof tiles — is just a 15-minute walk away from the museum. It has its own museum called Cheong Wa Dae Sarangchae, which is open to the public. There are exhibits there about the country’s presidents and history in the last 60 years.
‘GARDEN MUSEUM IN THE SKY’
Museum SAN is described by its architect Tadao Ando as a “garden museum in the sky.”
Several museums are worth taking a trip outside Seoul for.
Museum SAN (Space Art Nature) is tucked away inside the Oak Valley resort in the mountains of Wonju, Gangwon province. “San” incidentally also means mountain in Korean.
Japanese architect Tadao Ando, who designed the museum, was quoted in a 2014 Financial Times interview as saying he wanted to “create a garden museum in the sky, a dreamlike museum like no other.”
Visitors walk through the sculpture garden amid trees covered in rust and yellow leaves to reach the main building. A stunning red archway by Alexander Liberman rises over a pathway to the museum, surrounded by pools of water reflecting the stunning fall foliage.
Nature, art, and architecture combine to make a visit to Museum SAN a memorable one. It has a Paper Gallery dedicated to Korean paper craft; the Cheongjo Gallery featuring a few Korean modern and contemporary art pieces; as well as a hall showcasing a work of video art pioneer Nam June Paik.
For some, the highlight are American artist James Turrell’s artworks — Sky Space, Horizon Room, Ganzfeld, and Wedgework. “The beauty of light and the sense of infinite space by Mr. Turrell will make you meditate on yourself,” the museum said.
STAY AT AN ART HOTEL
Haslla Art World, located in Gangneung, Gangwon Province, is not just a museum but also a hotel. Overlooking the East Sea, the museum-hotel boasts of stunning views, a sculpture park, stylish rooms, and quirky art pieces.
Haslla is designed by artist couple Ok-yung Choi and Shin-jung Park, who wanted to bring art closer to the people. The museum features a hodge podge mix of colorful paintings, sculptures, and installations, which are very “Instagram-able.”
A tunnel connecting the museum to a Pinocchio exhibition, may remind fans of Netflick’s Stranger Things of dark passageways in Upside Down.
On display at the Pinocchio exhibit are toys, paintings, and souvenirs — all in the image of the beloved fictional character. A museum docent says the owner chose to focus on Pinocchio as a way to make art more relatable to children, and even adults.
Lifestyle checks on public figures try to match declared revenues (salary of a bureaucrat) and net worth with a particular style of living. (An impoverished existence, in this type of probe, need not be explained.) When low revenues and high expenses combine, the object of curiosity can plead that the resort place he posted on his FB is not really his (I was just a guest) or suddenly reveal that the deceased parents were very wealthy and the plantation was inherited.
An estranged spouse seeking a generous settlement (I want half of everything he’s been hiding) is bound to break open drawers to discover how many passbooks are being kept under lock and key — hey, look how many I found. Such tactics are unleashed most effectively on public figures. A press conference with an accompanying lawyer guarantees media coverage and force the recalcitrant mate to pay attention to his text messages. Of course, collateral damage on the family’s reputation cannot be helped — its omelette time and breaking eggs (mostly his) happens to be part of the cooking process.
Is it to be taken for granted that an individual can only have one revenue stream? Is salary, received from a job or whatever office one occupies at various times in a career, presumed to be the only source of income for the ordinary employee? What about paid vacation leave?
In corporate accounting “Other Income” can be considerable, even if non-recurring, unlike regular revenue streams at the top of the cash flow statement. This entry can comprise of the sale of an unused warehouse at a large profit over acquisition cost, the collection of a long past due account already written off, the acquisition of an unprofitable division by a cash-rich company, or well… kickbacks. (Yes, Virginia, they also have them in the private sector.)
Individuals too have other income not included in their tax filings like the gains from the stock market or capital accretion from the sale of properties. Both are already subjected to final taxes and are considered non-recurring, very different from a dentist getting paid for prophylaxis. Okay, even dentists do not report all the cavities they plugged.
There are certain professions that don’t issue receipts and do not worry about input VAT or offer senior citizen discounts, even if this gray segment is their target market.
It is possible for a young and attractive female to be living beyond her ostensible means acquiring signature bags and pricey sunglasses, and even a car from hidden revenue streams, with what can be considered as unexplained wealth. This occurrence is no longer unusual as the undeclared income (and source of such) can even be enhanced by emergency needs for random crises like a quick trip to the beach.
It is not always from landscape gardening that such a steady income is sourced. It helps when the individual has a regular occupation (like handing out property brochures at the malls) to explain periodic spurts of wealth (no pun intended). Here, digital technology is part of the marketing process as it provides speed of response and service delivery — so, would you like the cactus delivered this afternoon? Yes, we also handle bonsai plants.
The remittance economy also drives consumption of goods and services. This remittance need not all come from overseas workers. What we call the “remittance economy” usually refers to inward remittances of OFWs now at the annual level of $30 billion. This amount may have an added domestic component, although economists do not count the latter as addition to GDP as these are mere wealth transfers within the system. These are yet another example of trans-generational exchanges. They move cash from one deposit account to another.
There is finally the other undeclared revenue stream from unrecorded sales like the box of strawberries sold by vendors when traffic is stalled or tips for masseuses providing extra service, like reflexology. These, along with the sale of smuggled cars or shipments of tranquilizers, are classified as part of the “underground economy”, undeclared and untracked except when used for consumption of goods and services.
Other income can explain high spending levels (Almost 70% of the GDP is consumption), but the sources for such revenue streams are seldom disclosed. But when they are publicly revealed, they are so hard to explain… and even harder to justify.
JAKARTA — South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Thursday unveiled a new policy aimed at deepening ties with Southeast Asia, as the North Asian economic powerhouse seeks to curb its reliance on traditional trading partners like China and the United States.
Mr. Moon made Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s biggest economy, his first state visit to the region and was accompanied by a delegation of around 200 business leaders.
The “New Southern Policy,” aims to better connect South Korea to Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and expand the economic influence of Asia’s fourth-largest economy in the region home to over half a billion people.
“Korean diplomacy in Asia has been more towards Japan, China and Russia. But I see that it should expand to new horizons and Indonesia has good prospects,” Mr. Moon said in opening remarks at a business forum.
South Korea’s presidential Blue House has said the policy will mirror Mr. Moon’s “New Northern Policy” aimed at expanding cooperation between China, Japan, Russia and Mongolia. Mr. Moon announced that in September while at the East Economic Forum in Russia.
Indonesia and South Korea signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to develop a light rail transit (LRT) system, Indonesia’s industry minister Airlangga Hartarto said.
South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said the project in Jakarta was part of a series of MoUs worth up to $1.9 billion due to be signed.
A recent year-long diplomatic standoff between Seoul and Beijing over the deployment of a US anti-missile system has exposed the dependence of Korean companies on Chinese customers and likely exacerbated Seoul’s urgency to diversify ties.
During a joint news conference with US President Donald J. Trump this week, Mr. Moon said he was aiming for a more “balanced diplomacy,” which would include Russia, ASEAN countries, and members of the European Union.
Mr. Moon is due to meet Indonesian President Joko Widodo at a state palace in Bogor, south of Jakarta, later on Thursday for talks and then a state dinner.
The two are due to discuss infrastructure, trade, and also tensions on the Korean peninsula.
Indonesia has traditionally had good relations with North Korea and maintains diplomatic ties and is one of a small number of countries with an embassy in Pyongyang.
A number of South Korean companies already have or are planning big investments in Indonesia. Steel giant POSCO has a multibillion-dollar joint venture with Indonesia’s Krakatau Steel, Hyundai Motor is setting up a car factory and Samsung Electronics Co assembles smartphones in the country.
Indonesia is also emerging as an important market for South Korean defense equipment and the countries are cooperating on a venture to jointly build a fighter plane, dubbed KF-X.
Indonesia’s trade with South Korea was worth about $10 billion in the first nine months of 2017, while Korean foreign direct investment rose about a quarter to $1.37 billion over the period. South Koreans make up one of the largest expatriate groups in Indonesia and parts of Jakarta have numerous Korean restaurants and bars. As well as corporate muscle, Korea’s soft power has also grown in Indonesia alongside other countries in Southeast Asia. Korean K-Pop is hugely popular among Indonesians, with long-established fan clubs and bands, like BTS, touring the Southeast Asian country. Indonesian Twitter accounts dedicated to Korean pop idols have around a million followers. — Reuters
THREE Marco Polo hotels in Hong Kong have gotten an update with contemporary lobbies and exteriors, and an additional Continental Club floor of suites.
All located in the Tsim Sha Tsui district in Kowloon, the Marco Polo Hongkong, Gateway, and Prince hotels form part of Harbour City — Hong Kong’s largest shopping complex with more than 450 shops including leading luxury brands.
“Filipino guests love shopping, eating, and new experiences when they are traveling around. As a world-famous shopping paradise and culinary capital, Hong Kong is an attractive destination with a huge variety of shopping and dining options for Filipino guests to choose from,” Marco Polo Hotels – Hong Kong Director of Communications Samantha Poon said in an e-mail to BusinessWorld.
Ms. Poon explained the updates in a presentation at a media dinner on Oct. 26 at Marco Polo Ortigas Manila.
The landmark Marco Polo Hongkong has upgraded its building façade overlooking the Victoria Habour, while the Prince Hotel has unveiled a more contemporary lobby.
To enhance client comfort, Gateway Hotel opened a new Continental Club floor with 21 rooms and suites overlooking bustling Canton Road. The Club floor offers a stylish design and latest technology for travelers.
“There is a constantly increasing trend of Filipino guests’ visit to the three Marco Polo hotels in the previous two years,” Ms. Poon said in an e-mail.
She noted that Gateway Hotel is relatively the most popular among the three hotels in Hong Kong. “Chic Gateway Hotel boasts sophisticated interiors within a stylish urban sanctuary. All of its spacious rooms and suites feature sleek design elements evoking a contemporary residential feel,” she said in her e-mail.
“Of course if you wish to enjoy the breathtaking view of Victoria Harbour, Marco Polo Hongkong Hotel is definitely the choice. Alternatively, Prince Hotel is at the doorstep of the China Ferry Terminal where ferry services to Hong Kong’s fascinating neighboring cities including Macau and other areas in China, such as Zhuhai, Zhongshan are available.”
In addition, hotel guests may enjoy Hong Kong’s longest-running outdoor beer festival, the German Bierfest, which is ongoing until Nov. 11 at the Marco Polo Hongkong. An extensive selection of German beers are being served, including the famous Erdinger Weißbräu. Guests are entertained by traditional performances by the Notenhobler.
“We recommend Filipino guests to visit Hong Kong during late autumn, from October to around Christmas time when the weather is relatively cool and pleasant… They may enjoy a precious moment with their loved ones during Christmas, one of their favorite celebration with family,” she said.
Marco Polo Hotels – Hong Kong won the Merit Award at the 2017 Hong Kong Merit Awards Quality Award ceremony in July. The award recognizes outstanding performances and quality standards of organizations in all fields of industry and business. — Michelle Anne P. Soliman
MIAMI — With sheet metal roofs, concrete floors, poor ventilation, and spotty electricity, crowded urban slums in Africa can expect to get even hotter and deadlier due to global warming, US researchers said Monday.
Scientists at Johns Hopkins University analyzed three informal settlements in Nairobi, including the largest, Kibera, home to nearly a million people.
Along the settlements’ narrow alleyways, mud-walled homes and metal roofs, they found stifling temperatures, “between five and nearly 10° Fahrenheit (2.7°-5.5°C) higher than those reported at Nairobi’s official weather station less than half a mile away,” said the study in the journal PLOS ONE.
The study was conducted by 11 researchers over the course of 80 days from late 2015 to early 2016, one of Nairobi’s hottest summers since the 1970s.
Researchers posted 50 thermometers on trees and wooden posts, most in shaded areas.
At the Kenya Meteorological Department headquarters, in a grassy, wooded area, average daytime temperature was 78° Fahrenheit (25°C).
In the slums, the average was nearly 82° (27.7°C) in Kibera, 85° (29.4°C) in Mathare, and 87° (30.5°C) in Mukuru.
The higher temperatures found in the study are “certainly consistent with excess deaths,” said lead author Anna Scott, a climate scientist in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Johns Hopkins.
However, researchers were unable to quantify how many people are likely to die from heat waves in these urban areas, since many variables are at play.
Up to 60% of Nairobi’s residents live in these informal settlements. — AFP
ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVIST Regina Paz L. Lopez, who previously served as secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), is planning to invest in a project in Zamboanga City that would help towards developing a “green economy.” “I want to do something in Zamboanga,” Ms. Lopez told the local media here in a press conference on the sidelines of the ongoing National Youth Day 2017. “If a place has the potential, it just needs a little marketing then it will boom,” she said, adding that “as long as the community commits to value the environment.” Ms. Lopez also said that she can lobby business groups to consider environment-related investments into the city. — Albert F. Arcilla
HELSINKI — Finnish game studio Next Games said last week that it will launch a new augmented reality smartphone game in the coming months based on AMC Networks’ hit TV show Walking Dead.
The game, in which players fight zombies that are superimposed onto the real world on smartphone screens, is tapping into the trend of augmented reality (AR) which gained mass adoption last year with the release of Niantic Inc.’s Pokémon GO.
Next Games said the Walking Dead: Our World game, which it hopes will mirror Pokémon GO’s success, will be available for test users on Apple’s App Store and Google Play in selected regions by January before a wider release later next year.
The TV show tells the story of a world overrun by zombies, and the new game will use AR technology to let players battle the zombie characters in real world environments.
Based on the same show, Next Games has previously developed a mobile strategy game which has been downloaded by more than 16 million users.
“I have an optimistic view on (the new game‘s) potential. I expect this game to reach similar levels of revenue to their previous game,” said analyst Jerker Salokivi at Evli brokerage, with a “hold” rating on the stock.
Shares in the company, which was listed in March, jumped more than 100% in August after the company released its first video trailer of the upcoming game.
The stock fell more than 7% last Friday as the company reported a loss from the first nine months of the year due to investments in game development.
Its sales from January to September rose 30% from a year ago to around €26 million ($30 million).
This year, Google and Apple have both released augmented reality applications for their devices to compete for the attention of customers and software developers building such games.
Pokémon GO, which has players walking around real life neighborhoods to catch and train creatures, has more than 750 million downloads.
“AR games… need to give the player a reason to look through their cameras, to change their surroundings into something else. With zombies, you don’t luckily get to do it any other way,” Next Games CEO Teemu Huuhtanen told Reuters in September.
In another recent AR initiative, Mattel and tech company Osmo launched an augmented reality version for the Hotwheels toy car game. — Reuters
ATLANTIS’ production of Matilda the Musical opens tonight.
ATLANTIS Theatrical Entertainment Group presents Tony award-winning Matilda the Musical, adapted from Roald Dahl’s children’s novel of the same name about an extraordinary little girl with extraordinary powers who finds refuge from her abusive parents and her school’s cruel headmistress in library books. The show will run from Nov. 10 to Dec. 10 at the Meralco Theater, Ortigas Center, Pasig City. Tickets and schedules are available at TicketWorld (www.ticketworld.com.ph, 891-9999).
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
RESORTS World Manila presents Ian Fleming’s children’s musical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang about a family and their magical car at Newport Performing Arts Theater. The show is ongoing until Nov. 12. Tickets and schedules are available at TicketWorld (www.ticketworld.com.ph, 891-9999).
Wonderstruck
DLSU Englicom presents Wonderstruck, a benefit concert for the Little Stars Daycare Center and Englicom Scholarship Program, at the Blue Bay Walk, Nov. 11, noon to 11 p.m. Featuring Silent Sanctuary, Ransom Collective, Jensen and the Flips, and Leanne and Naara. Tickets cost P300 and are available at TicketWorld (www.ticketworld.com.ph, 891-9999).
Night with the Knights
CARMEN SORIANO, Jun Polistico, and John Lesaca — with a special appearance by Pilita Corrales — come together in Night with the Knights on Nov. 11, 8 p.m., at the Music Museum, Greenhills Shopping Center, San Juan City. Tickets are available at TicketWorld (www.ticketworld.com.ph, 891-9999). For more information, contact the Music Museum at (721-6726).
I Remember a Boy
IT IS TIME for nostalgia with I Remember a Boy, an original musical revue featuring Ayu Martinez’s OPM songs on Nov. 11 and 12, 7 p.m., at Arts Above Artist Playground II, West Venue Bldg., 112 West Ave., Quezon City. The cast includes Kathleen Francisco, Cathrine Go, Philippe Go, Joe Henson, Mariella Laurel, and Miko Manguba. Tickets are available at TicketWorld (www.ticketworld.com.ph, 891-9999).
Beauty and the Beast
REPERTORY Philippines’ Children’s Theater presents the musical Beauty and the Beast at the Onstage Theater in Greenbelt 1, Paseo de Roxas, Makati City until Dec. 14. Joy Virata directs the classic fairy tale. Tickets and schedules are available at TicketWorld (www.ticketworld.com.ph, 891-9999).
3 films to see on the week of November 10-17, 2017
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ANTON AND ERIKA have been together for 12 years. When selfishness and issues of comprise arise, they seek to answer the question: Is there a love worth losing yourself for? Directed by Dondon S. Santos, it stars Alessandra de Rossi and Ivan Padilla. MTRCB Rating: PG
This Time I’ll be Sweeter
ERIKA becomes close to her classmate/crush, Tristan. Then they separate and Erika is left heartbroken. Years later, their paths cross when Erika, now a reporter, covers an accident involving Tristan’s family. They reconnect as she helps him recover. Will love be sweeter the second time around? Directed by Joel Lamangan, it stars Barbie Forteza, Ken Chan, Akihiro Blanco, Hiro Peralta, Jai Agpangan, Yayo Aguila, and Ara Mina. MTRCB Rating: PG
Mayhem
AFTER losing his job, Derek Cho discovers that his law firm’s building is under quarantine due to a dangerous virus. It becomes chaotic as victims act their wildest impulses. Together with a former client, Cho fights to reach the executives on the top floor and get to the bottom of everything. Directed by Joe Lynch, it stars Steven Yeun, Samara Weaving, Caroline Chikezie, and Dallas Roberts. Variety’s Joe Leydon remarks, “Mayhem keeps the pedal to the metal throughout its lean-and-mean 86-minute running time, allowing few opportunities for any catching of breath or scoping for plot holes.” MTRCB Rating: R-18
Lets’ face it. The Suns were destined to get pennies to the dollar for Eric Bledsoe once he went public with his desire to be traded. Not that he didn’t have cause to push for change; he was playing extremely well before the front office shut him down in February in a blatant attempt to tank the remainder of the 2016-2017 season for prime lottery position. On the other hand, his candid “I don’t want to be here” tweet following yet another loss underscored his petulance, thus depressing his market value. It also didn’t help that general manager Ryan McDonough saw fit to throw him under the bus even as he was being shopped around.
Which, in a nutshell, was why the Suns could do no better than get 2010 seventh overall pick Greg Monroe and two protected draft assets from the Bucks in exchange for Bledsoe. As much as they wanted prized point guard Malcolm Brogdon, they simply did not have the negotiating leverage to push for their ideal trade. Never mind McDonough’s contention that “we are open to doing a deal whenever the best offer presents itself.” The clock was ticking, and the bait had been damaged enough as to encourage lowballing.
Moving forward, the Suns are now pressed to flip Monroe. The hope is that his expiring contract will extract meaningful looks from potential partners aiming to cut down on payroll. Barring that, they’ll likely move for a buyout, and soon, given their intent to go all out on their youth-infused rebuilding project. From the outside looking in, it seems they got rid of one problem and acquired another. Clearly, they thought of Bledsoe as a tumor that had to be excised pronto.
All told, the Suns got what they needed, as opposed to wanted. Whether Monroe gets to stay, be bought out, or be dealt, they’ll clear cap space at the end of their 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 campaigns and have leeway to shape the roster as they see fit. Unfortunately, they’re slated to get worse first, a development fans won’t be happy to see unfold.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is the Senior Vice-President and General Manager of Basic Energy Corp.
#12
This Time I’ll be Sweeter
Mayhem